Autonomous hexagonal deployment for optimal coverage in mobile sensor networks

Self-deployment is one of the main research issues in mobile sensor networks. It determines quality of service of networks, such as coverage and connectivity. In this paper, a novel autonomous hexagonal deployment algorithm for optimal coverage is presented to achieve the ideal hexagonal deployment. According to this algorithm, a self-deployment approach by adjusting centroid is proposed so that the stacking problem in traditional virtual force approach can be avoided. Moreover, the virtual force algorithm is used to improving the sparse deployment. Simulation results show that self-deployment by the proposed algorithm can effectively reach the ideal hexagonal deployment for optimal coverage in the mobile sensor network with concentrated or sparse initial placement.